Come Inn Lisbon Penha de França

The staff were lovely and ready to help, and the bed was really comfortable. The room, bathroom, and linens were all very clean. It was a decent place to sleep for one night, and maybe longer would’ve been fine too. My only gripes were that the room was small and there were ants along one side.

I left my backpack with reception the next morning, then later found that €50 was missing from my savings, which I’d tucked into a back pocket. I know I shouldn’t have left cash in the bag, but it can happen. When I called, they said they’d never heard of anything like that and that nobody else could enter the locker room. The night before, I’d been told my booked double room with a private bathroom wasn’t available. They offered a cheaper double room without one, but I needed the private bathroom for personal reasons. Since it was late and I had nowhere else in mind, I had to accept. Don’t book this hotel.

The one bright spot was the receptionist, a very friendly guy. Otherwise, the shower leaked, the electricity kept cutting out, and the kitchen had just one working hotplate, which was tiny. You could hear every footstep from the neighboring rooms. The rough blankets also weren’t enough for the cold indoors in Lisbon’s winter, when houses without heating can get chilly even if it’s around 15°C outside.

It was cheap, and the metro was a 10-minute walk away, then just four quick stops to the city center. But you’re really only paying for a bed. The house is older than World War I, with rotting windows that did nothing to block noise from a busy street. Inside, the walls were so thin I could hear quiet conversation next door, and people rang the doorbell several times during the night. I didn’t feel safe leaving my things in the room. There’s no sign saying it’s a hostel, so it was hard to find. It’s just an old house, with an A4 sheet inside saying the hostel is upstairs.